It’s approaching do-or-die stakes for the Canterbury Bulldogs as they travel north to face the Brisbane Broncos at Suncorp Stadium as the two sides launch NRL Round 20 action on Thursday night.

Des Hasler has coached NRL teams to the finals in 12 of his 13 seasons at the helm of either Manly or Canterbury, but he’s in huge danger of a rare holiday in September as the Bulldogs languish in 13th spot with just seven wins in 2017.

Hasler, who was controversially re-signed by the Bulldogs for two seasons after a 10-7 win over the Broncos earlier this season in wet conditions at ANZ Stadium, is once again under huge pressure from die-hard Canterbury fans, who are convinced the ‘master coach’ is way past his use-by date at Belmore.

The primary reason for Canterbury’s struggles in 2017 is once again their attack, with the club scoring the least amount of points in the competition this season.

The Bulldogs have been able to hang in games over the last few seasons due to their monstrous forward pack, but they’ve dipped in that department in 2017, and that’s just enhanced the problems faced in the halves.

But Canterbury have picked up a maximum four points over the last fortnight with an escape act against the Knights and last week’s bye meaning they are just four points behind eighth-placed St George Illawarra. Could they possibly close that gap to two on Thursday night?

While the Bulldogs must win, the Broncos are also determined for success and to cement their top four status, with just two points separating the second-placed Roosters and sixth-placed Cowboys.

Brisbane have come out the other end of the Origin series – a period of the season where they traditionally struggle – and they will be targeting a big finish to the year.

They will be looking for a more polished performance than last week however, with the Broncos allowing the Knights to rack up a big lead before chasing them down in the second half.

This might not be such a clear-cut win for the Broncos. Canterbury have won three of the last four games between the sides and won a tough game earlier in 2017. I think the Bulldogs will keep it close, but the Broncos should have too much firepower and talent and will likely edge this in the final 20 minutes.